Scott Anderson spoke to RedTV after Aberdeen U19s lost out to Puskás Akadémia in Hungary. Despite the 3-0 defeat in Hungary, the young Dons showed in spells that they could compete on the European stage. Red TV subscribers can watch Scott’s post-match thoughts here. 

“We came across here and we knew that we were in a difficult position. We spoke prior to the game that we wanted to come here and give a good account of ourselves. We were disappointed with our showing at Pittodrie. I think in the first half we came out very strongly, we hit the crossbar, we created a few opportunities. It’s probably little bits in the final third that we need to brush up on and pick the right decision. Ultimately we lose a poor goal which over the course of the two games has been a real negative for us. It’s something we need to work on and something we need to get better at. Overall it was  a spirited a performance from us.

“We were right in the game in the first half and the early part of the second half. We thought it was important that we got the next goal in the tie. We wanted to win the game. If that gave them a little fright we didn’t know how they would react to it. To miss those early opportunities, we would’ve liked to have seen the reaction we would have got from the players and the reaction we would have got from them as well. I am just a wee bit frustrated that we lost the game 3-0.

“It’s about their learning, it’s about them looking to play in these types of competitions at first team level ultimately in front of a packed stadium. It’s been a challenge for them and it has been a real testing environment to be in, we’re hoping that they’ve learnt a huge amount from the course of the two games, the preparation, the build up. The motivation that they will take out of this to hopefully drive them on as young players and hopefully they can repeat this type of situations as first team players.

“I have loved being part of an Aberdeen team in Europe. I won’t go over my frustration of the squad and who can’t take part. It is a really proud moment for myself and all of the coaching staff. These are the types of games and tournaments and things that we want to be involved in. We were involved in the Youth Cup Final last season and again as a group, as a squad and as a staff we want to make sure that were very close to that again this season.”

The Dons were backed by a handful of noisy Aberdeen fans who showed their support to the youngsters throughout the game.

“I thought it was outstanding. They were noisy the whole game as Aberdeen fans always are. They got right behind the boys. It was a tough night certainly in the later stages of the second half and they continually backed them all the way through. It helped the players a great deal. We can only thank them and hopefully when we do return to a tournament like this we get similar backing.”